Built at 15: How Korea Shapes Its Future Pros Before the LCK

The LCK Academy has a new format — and it starts younger than you might think. To understand what it actually looks like from the inside, Sheep Esports spoke with Shin “Wish” Dong-seok, coach of Hanjin Brion Academy, a Korean coach who has navigated both the French development scene and the Korean system. His perspective cuts through the myths.

Shin “Wish” Dong-seok: "In Korea, Master is a special tier. Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger are grouped together as the top competitive bracket. From Master onward, you can't duo queue, and only LP determines your standing. That's why I see Master as the true entry point into competitive play. The foundation of being a pro is competition. That's why it's the minimum standard.

Wish: Honestly, players aged 23-24 often have better reaction times and mechanics than 17-18 year-olds — I know that. But this is an Academy stage, a stage built for rookies, and I believe their peak years should be spent in the LCK. So I look at certain things: teamfight focus, mental resilience, split-second decision-making. The rest will come with growth. When they fully develop, they'll be the next generation of League esports.

Wish: The base is five days a week, two scrim blocks per day, plus CS practice, solo queue, and positional/formation drills. On average, they're putting in close to 14 hours a day toward improving.

Wish: It depends on their rank. Diamond players must play at least 80 games per week using a minimum of 5 different champions. Masters: 65 games, 8 champions. Grandmaster: 50 games, 15 champions. Challenger has no fixed limit, but we continuously monitor their solo queue records.

Wish: Since the CL players are in-season, deep interaction is limited — but mainly, I help with laning coaching and positional practice for our Academy players.

Wish: That they're born with extraordinary talent from day one [laughs]. Every rookie has plenty of weaknesses. But through relentless effort and painful practice, they prove why they belong at that level. They've been training with a professional mindset for years already, so by the time they hit the stage, that talent finally gets to shine.

Wish: The biggest gap is the skill level and experience of the players. When I was in LFL Div2, almost every player was already a veteran with a solid baseline understanding of the game. So most of my coaching focused on macro play, teamfight details, and laning mistakes. Here, the players are much younger and have limited team game experience — so I'm teaching fundamentals: macro decisions, game understanding from the ground up.

Wish: In Korea, organizations invest based on potential — which creates an environment where good rookies can continuously grow and rise. In Europe, immediate results matter more, so veterans dominate every level of play, and it becomes hard for rookies to develop. I'd love to see well-funded LEC organizations build sustainable development structures so that talented European rookies can grow into the next generation. Personally, I have a lot of respect for's KCB/KCBS system as a step in the right direction for Europe.”